Stinging attack on Ramaphosa over 'slave wages'
National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) on Tuesday criticised Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa for trying to legislate what it calls "slave wages for blacks and Africans”.
The proposed R3 500 minimum wage Ramaphosa announced at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) on Sunday was not a living wage, general secretary Irvin Jim said in a statement.
“Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is extremely dangerous, continually gunning for the blood of the working class and ready to evaporate the dream of a living national minimum wage.”
Ramaphosa led the Nedlac negotiations for the national minimum wage.
Jim accused him of trying to please international ratings agencies at the expense of the working class. He said the proposal would fail to lift workers out of poverty and narrow the widening wealth gap.
He suggested that government should have done detailed research, company-by-company, to reveal their total annual turnover.
Jim claimed that whites earned in excess of R20 000, while “extremely exploited” black workers were earning R3 700 to R4 500 per month.
He also took a swipe at labour federations Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and Federation of Unions South Africa (Fedusa), who were part of the minimum wage talks.
According to Jim, they were making commitments to ratings agencies aimed at averting a downgrade, and “selling out” workers.
Cosatu initially proposed a minimum wage of R4 500. Jim said Ramaphosa was exploiting the “weakened and fragmented” trade union federation.
He added that Numsa would outline a “fight-back strategy” at its national congress in Cape Town in December.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
In 1958 John Deere Construction made its first introduction to the industry with their model 64 bulldozer.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Supplier & Distributor of the Widest Range of Accurate & Easy-to-Use Alcohol Breathalysers
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
